wrap

SayRAP/ɹæp/

Noun pluralwraps

16 meanings of wrap

1
verbtransitive
To cover an object entirely by enclosing it in paper, cloth, or some other thin, flexible material.
Movers wrap fragile dishes in padded paper before packing them.
He wrapped the leftover bread in a clean towel.
Similarbind, wind
Oppositeunwrap
Note
The core sense the rest unfold from. Middle English wrappen meant "to wrap, fold," and nobody is sure where it came from. Its possible relatives point toward pressing and stuffing: North Frisian wrappe "to press into; stop up" and dialectal Danish vrappe "to stuff, cram." The material usually follows in (wrapped in paper). The regular past is wrapped. Wrapt is an archaic spelling of both the past and the participle.
2
verbtransitive
To coil or close around an object or living thing as a way of grasping or holding it.
Climbing vines wrap their tendrils around any nearby support.
The wrestler wrapped both arms around his opponent's waist.
Similarwind, coil, twine, twist
Note
Here the wrapper is the one doing the holding: a snake, a vine, a pair of arms. The construction usually adds around or about, and it is often reflexive. A snake wraps itself around its prey, and William Cullen Bryant's sleeper in Thanatopsis (1811) wraps the drapery of his couch about him. Leave out the preposition and the verb slides back toward the plain packaging meaning.
3
nouncountable or uncountable
A dish consisting of fillings such as meat, cheese, or vegetables rolled inside a tortilla or similar flatbread.
The café sells a grilled vegetable wrap that comes with a side salad.
Wraps have largely replaced sandwiches on the company's catering menu.
4
nouncountable or uncountable
Paper or thin sheeting placed around an object to protect, contain, or conceal it.
Keep the painting in its protective wrap until it reaches the gallery.
She smoothed the festive wrap over the box and taped down the edges.
Similarpackaging, covering
5
nouncountable or uncountable
A loose article of women's clothing, such as a shawl or scarf, worn draped around the body.
The actress arrived in a silk wrap over her evening gown.
A light cotton wrap is perfect for cool summer nights on the porch.
Similarshawl, stole
6
verbfigurativelytransitive
To conceal something by enveloping or enfolding it; to hide it within a covering layer.
Darkness wrapped the harbor long before the ship appeared.
Politicians often wrap unpopular decisions in comforting language.
Similarenvelop, shroud, cloak, veil, swathe
Oppositereveal, expose, uncover
7
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of enclosing or winding something in a covering material.
Each vase gets a double wrap of tissue before shipping.
The boxer's coach finished the wrap of his hands just before the bell.
Similarlayer, binding
8
nouncountable or uncountable
The completion of all or a major portion of a performance or filming project.
The studio announced the wrap of its biggest production of the year.
Cast members exchanged gifts at the wrap to mark the end of the season.
Similarcompletion, conclusion
Note
Entertainment people mark endings with this noun. "That's a wrap" announces that the work is done, and the phrase has spread from sets to broadcasts: a Fox News Watch host signed off with it in 2009. The wrap party is the celebration afterward. The noun sits naturally after the: "right after the wrap."
9
verbtransitive or intransitive
To finish shooting a film, television show, or other video production.
Directors usually wrap a scene only after several usable takes.
The series wrapped in June after a delayed final season.
Similarfinish, complete, conclude
Note
Film-set shorthand that works with or without an object. A crew can wrap a scene, and a production can simply wrap. The deadline usually takes by: "let's make sure we wrap by ten." The phrasal wrap up covers similar ground in everyday speech. The bare verb is the working jargon of the shoot, and it shares its vocabulary with the noun for a finished shoot.
10
verbtransitive
To break a continuous line of text so that it continues on the next line.
Word processors wrap text automatically at the right margin.
The email client wrapped each paragraph at seventy-two characters.

11
nouncountable or uncountable
A complete news report prepared for broadcast, combining a reporter's narration with interview clips or other recorded material.
She filed a two-minute wrap on the election results for the morning bulletin.
The network aired his wrap from the flood zone at the top of the hour.
Similarpackage
Note
Newsroom jargon for a finished piece. When a voicer, the reporter's recorded narration, is combined with an actuality, the recorded sound from a source, the result is a wrap. Package is its near-synonym, and the two often appear together ("prepare a wrap or package"). The word fits the image: the reporter's voice wraps around the other material.
12
verbtransitive
To make existing functionality available through a software wrapper that provides a different or simpler interface.
Developers wrap the legacy API so newer services can call it safely.
The library wraps low-level graphics routines in a friendlier interface.
Similarencapsulate
Note
A programmer's verb in which the object is the thing being enclosed, not the enclosure. You wrap a legacy routine or an API, and the result is a wrapper around it. The original code stays as it was, and other code reaches it through the new layer. The usual pattern is wrap X in Y or wrap X with Y, where Y names the interface.
13
verbtransitive or intransitive
To reset, or cause to reset, to an initial value after exceeding a maximum.
Eight-bit counters wrap to zero once they pass 255.
The modulo operation wraps the index back to the beginning of the array.
Similarreset
14
nouncountable or uncountable
A mortgage that incorporates the outstanding balance of an existing loan, so the borrower makes one combined payment to the new lender; a wraparound mortgage.
Their lawyer drew up a wrap covering both the old mortgage and the additional financing.
When interest rates spiked, sellers used wraps to keep deals attractive.
15
nounarchaiccountable or uncountableplural
An outer garment worn for protection from the weather while riding or traveling.
He buttoned his wrap against the wind as the stagecoach set off.
‘I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here,’ she said, seating herself comfortably, throwing back her wraps, and showing a thin but well-built figure.
1872, George Eliot, Middlemarch
Note
An old traveling word, now rare, usually met in the plural. George Eliot's Middlemarch (1872) has a visitor "throwing back her wraps" as she settles in, which suggests layers of outdoor covering rather than a single garment. Modern readers may confuse it with the shawl or scarf. That sense is singular and decorative, while this one is plural and protective.
16
nouncolloquialAustralia
Alternative spelling of rap.
Pit bulls get a bad wrap that careful owners spend years trying to undo.
The sequel earned a bad wrap from critics despite strong ticket sales.
Note
Only the sound links this spelling to wrap; it is a separate word. It stands for rap in the sense "appraisal," which is Australian and informal. It turns up mostly in bad wrap, meaning an unfair verdict or reputation, where it overlaps with the slang rap meaning "blame." Rap is the main spelling of that word, so in careful writing use bad rap.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–2, 6, 9–10, 12–13

From Middle English wrappen ('to wrap, fold'), of uncertain origin. It may be related to North Frisian wrappe ('to press into; stop up'), dialectal Danish vrappe ('to stuff, cram'), and Middle Low German words, all perhaps tied to Proto-Indo-European *werp-, *werb- ('to turn, twist, bend'). It is a doublet of lap and related to envelop and develop.

Meanings 3–5, 7–8, 11, 14–15

From Middle English wrappe, derived from the verb wrappen (see above).